BobbyBiscuit

Yes.

Who is to say that one or two teams get a good run, make a few bob and spend it wisely so it's the same side/s making the impact in Europe each year? What then for the rest? It's an entirely plausible scenario. Personally, I think the game is so low at the minute that there isn't a chance in hell of any of our teams making any kind of impact in Europe. Hopefully that changes of course. They were contracted to show a set amount of games outwith the final itself. They're not doing it because they think Motherwell v Aberdeen or Hearts v St Mirren is going to make them a lot of cash. Lets face it, Sky would have been beelin' that the huns were knocked out. There goes the chance of their dream final/semi/quarter. It's not enough for the league to be competitive as i said the other day. There has to be quality. The Championship is competitive, they say the most competitive in Europe. Have you ever watched it? It's not great. Far from it and I generally turn the channel if it's on. Just because a league is competitive doesn't mean it is automatically attractive to outsiders. Maybe some would tune in, but I'd be amazed if it was enough to get our clubs a decent wedge.

The arguments about the Europa League are all well and fine, but with more qualifiers to play and only a couple of teams a year in Europe, where and how do the rest make up the shortfall? There's been no mention of the quality of the football and how appalling it is, the admission prices being ridiculously overblown as it is... these things are the over-riding factors on whether folk go to the football now and they're in danger of getting worse and that's the case whether the vermin live or die. If the huns are in the league or not, get the admission prices down and get more people through the gates.

So they left out the bit where he said "No Surrender"? Shame....

Lots of fair points there Baggy. The TV situation is a dodgy one though that i think we have to be careful with. It's not long since Setanta - an established Sports channel - went tits up. I have to be honest, if the Dons were only on once or twice a month, i'd go to the pub to watch it if I wasn't going to the game. And as far as the kids thing goes... the standard of football may not matter on a technical level, but it certainly matters where "Stars" are concerned. There is no Gordon Strachan, Charlie Nicholas or Eoin Jess at Pittodrie these days, hasn't been for nigh on 20 years and there are signs that there won't be one any time soon; that's what kids want. When there is competition for their attentions such as there is with La Liga, EPL, Serie A... it's a tough sell. You're right though, if something is going to change then this must be the time we at least try. I'm just scunnered with Scottish football and expect nothing from it these days. Hopefully this can be the start of the renaissance.

Yes. On both counts. Why do you think we'd get more people tuning into the games then than we do now? Because the OF aren't involved? A lovely idea but a romantic one. No one, and I mean no one, outwith those who support them, care about watching the likes of St Johnstone and Kilmarnock, and dare I say it, Aberdeen. SPLTV would be a subscription channel, yes? Showing solely SPL matches? If so, how can you possibly not think that's narrowing the audience? At the moment our game is available to anyone with Sky/ESPN, so they can watch our games even if they didn't get those channels for that reason. having a league specific channel reduces the number of people exposed to the league, therefore reducing the number of people exposed to sponsors and advertisers. Putting highlights on early on a Saturday or Sunday... so it's up against an EPL game or a La Liga match, not a great idea. Again, a romanticised view that the younger generations will tune in and be taken in by the likes of Ross Tokely clogging their way through a sorry excuse of a top flight football match. Why wouldn't they? I'm not on about the set up of the league's constitution, i'm talking about on the park. Who is going to challenge them for the league in the next four years, for talks sake, if the huns aren't about? Everyone else is much of a muchness, no one is strong enough to sustain a challenge to them as has been shown in nearly every season since the mid-90s. Do you seriously think they would hand over anything they didn't need to? They've never once said "We'll give X up for the good of the Scottish game", why would they now? It's self preservation. They're not going to develop a moral conscience just because the huns don't exist. I hate saying all this for a million reasons most of all because it means the Dons are reduced to what they have become in the last 17 years; but it's realism.

Again though, narrowing your audience just isn't going to be a wise move in the wider scheme of things. If the huns aren't going to be in the SPL then fine, but people will have to put up with Celtic winning the league at a canter pretty much every year for the forseeable future. I know that it doesn't make much difference to us whether it's them or the huns that win it just now, but the SPL is already a joke league, it would make it even worse. Maybe that's what it would take to eventually get a decent standard and a competitive league in the long run, I'm not sure. However, people also need to start accept that a competitive league won't necessarily mean better things for Scottish football. If the standard is as it is now, or worse, you will still struggle to get people through the gates for large parts of the season, maybe not the last 6 weeks or whatever, but people will not pay the guts of £30 at the gate for guys with no more skill than a decent Sunday league player.

They open the pub early for the 12noon Sunday kick offs, but as Penfold says anyway, it's a 12.45 number this week.

It's not just about the money direct from the deal; no TV deal, sponsorship and advertising money drop as a direct result. While I don't think Scottish Football would die without them, there is no way the situation is as rosey as some predict. There would be less money going through the game; we all know the standard of player here is as low as it has ever been... that won't improve with less money. Foreign players would be less likely to come here, the good players we produce would be less likely to stick around for as long as they are just now and even then, that's not long. People keep citing the 80s, and how ding the huns were then. It's not a comparable situation because the game is now a "global game" more than ever and the amount of money in it has changed it almost beyond comprehension from the 80s.

Really? I don't think it is somehow.

Less than accurate is probably a gentle way of putting it. We try to carry off the barmaids on a regular basis however...

For those of you in the Glasgow area in the coming weeks and can't make it to the matches, please come along to The Rock in the West End to join other Reds for beers and loads of shouting at TV screens. The more Dons in through the doors the more it helps Glasgow's Aberdeen Supporters Team, Red Stars. Hope a lot of you can make it along, it's always a good atmosphere when loads of Dons are in. Cheers.

Langfield, Mackie, Uchechi, Magennis and Chalali on the bench. Jack out altogether lending credence to the rumours about him having a fight with Knox at training.

That's true, and obviously it will come down to whether 75% of creditors (I believe this is 75% of the value of creditors) agree to the settlement. HMRC must make up 75% alone, no? They are going to have similar cases down south supposedly, would they really be happy to take a small settlement? I really can't see it mate, they're not just any other business that has to recover any part of a bad debt possible. Obviously this is best possible scenario. Penfold's post earlier points to a grimmer outcome for the rest of us however and i have no doubt that's exactly what they'll attempt to do.

They've still got the tax bill to pay though. There's not a chance HMRC will accept 10p in the £. Can you imagine the knock on effect for the Revenue if they did so? It would be disasterous.

no pics of Aluko's goal...?

What says it all for the vermin is that outside Ibrox last night there were less people there in anger than when Maurice Johnston signed for them.

HMRC have applied to the Court to have Rangers put into administration, they obviously want their own administrator in there. Looks like they've called Whyte's bluff on this one.

Good point, surely Mizer will have a graph up soon showing exactly how much we've missed out on over the last decade.... If they come back they'll surely just come back as Rangers FC, as opposed to Glasgow Rangers FC?

full article here: http://www.thedailymash.co.uk/sport/sport-headlines/rangers-pledges-sectarianism-as-usual-201202144892/

yeah, i got a promo of it back in the day. It's a bit gash.

In case they do go out of business altogether, I thought I'd find some quotes from those whose lives they've touched: Ian Archer; Brian Clough; Irvine welsh (may have known more than most considering this quote is from 1996 ) Butch wilkins; El Mundo Deportivo Newspaper on Rangers after the Rangers game v Barcelona in the Nou Camp (Nov 07) Assistant Chief Constable Justine Curran, the match commander during Rangers' shame in the UEFA Cup Final

Yeah, i get you, said similar re OF going to play in England. But still, if Carlsberg did Mondays and all that jazz... Starting in Div 3 is unlikely to happen should they be liquidated. The SPL is a seperate body and membership can be applied for and if voted in by the other members they'd be back in it immediately, or so I'm led to believe.